Don Macpherson: New leaders wanted

Don Macpherson, The Gazette11.11.2012

Don Macpherson

A CROP-La Presse poll shows that Denis Coderre would be a favourite for mayor of Montreal, even if he ran for Gérald Tremblay’s Union Montreal party, something he has sworn not to do.Tim Snow
/ The Gazette

Last year’s “orange wave” that swept the province for the federal New Democratic Party and this year’s change of government to the first one in Quebec history led by a woman haven’t satisfied Quebecers’ hunger for change.

The Marois government’s postelection honeymoon with the electorate was so brief it looked like a one-night stand.

And recent polls at other political levels suggest that Quebecers still want new leaders.

For the Quebec Liberal leadership, to be decided next March, their favourite is former health minister Philippe Couillard.

One of Couillard’s advantages is that he spent the last five years out of active politics, away from the scandals that dogged the former Liberal government, and out of public sight.

In federal politics, a recent CROP poll for La Presse suggested that with Justin Trudeau as its leader, the Liberal party would pick up 16 points in popularity and vault ahead of the NDP into first place in popularity in this province.

And among Montrealers, the most popular choice for mayor is someone who isn’t a municipal politician and isn’t officially a candidate for the job.

A CROP-La Presse poll conducted at the beginning of last month suggested that even as the candidate of former mayor Gérald Tremblay’s Union Montreal party, Denis Coderre would be elected mayor.

And a more recent poll, done by Léger Marketing for Le Journal de Montréal the week before Tremblay resigned as mayor, suggested that Montrealers have blind faith in Coderre’s ability to clean up city hall.

They overwhelmingly chose Coderre over Tremblay and opposition party leaders Louise Harel and Richard Bergeron as the one in whom they had the most confidence to fight corruption in the city administration.

Coderre has said he’ll keep his present job as Liberal member of Parliament for the north-end Montreal riding of Bourassa until his party chooses its new leader next April.

He outlined a platform on integrity, proposing the appointment of an inspector to “police” city contracts, the “rotation” of civil servants in decision-making posts and the replacement of the lowest-bid system for awarding public contracts, which is vulnerable to bid-rigging.

But if Coderre is new to the municipal scene, he’s not new to politics, after 15 years as an MP.

On Larocque Lapierre, the second half of the interview was about his associations to political personalities at the provincial and municipal levels whose names were later linked to scandals.

As the consensus early front-runner, Coderre has a bull’s eye on his back, and so do Couillard and Trudeau.

And they all face several months of campaigning ahead, during which their novelty might wear off, and even newer challengers might emerge.

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